Palestinian militants will halt rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip, say senior officials. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' office said that Israel should in turn stop military operations in Gaza and withdraw its forces. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has agreed to the plan, his spokeswoman said. The ceasefire will go into effort from 0600 (0400GMT) on Sunday. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

The Taliban has kidnapped two Pakistani journalists in southern Afghanistan, a spokesman for the militant group and a wife of one of the missing men said Friday. The Taliban said the men were safe and would released soon.Syed Saleem Shahzad, from The Star English-language daily in the southern city of Karachi, and Qamar Yousafzai, a reporter with various newspapers in southwestern Quetta, were last heard from in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province on Oct. 19, according to Shahzad's wife, Anita Saleem said....http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-11-25-afghanistan-kidnapping_x.htm?csp=34

The pastor at Anchorage First Free Methodist Church was mystified. Why was the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals chastising his church? No animals are harmed in the making of the church's holiday nativity display. In fact, animals aren't used at all. People, however, do dress the parts — Mary, Joseph, wise men, etc. The volunteers stand shivering at a manger on the church lawn, a silent tribute to Christmas. The Rev. Jason Armstrong was confused by an e-mail earlier this week from PETA. It admonished him for subjecting animals "to cruel treatment and danger," by forcing them into roles in the church's annual manger scene. We've never had live animals, so I just figured this was some spam thing," Armstrong said. "It's rough enough on us people standing out there in the cold. So we're definitely not using animals...http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,231925,00.html

Vice President Dick Cheney arrived Saturday in Saudi Arabia for talks with King Abdullah, apparently seeking the Sunni royal family’s influence and tribal connections to calm Iraq after an especially violent week. Cheney’s one-day visit comes at a time of upheaval across the region and as regional diplomatic efforts to calm several potentially explosive situations have foundered. In Iraq, the slaughter Thursday of 215 people in car bombs by suspected Sunni insurgents in a Shiite neighborhood prompted a new political crisis ahead of talks scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday in Jordan between the Iraqi premier and President Bush. A top Shiite political party that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki depends on for power threatened to withdraw from the government if he meets Bush. Developments in Iran, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories also have heightened worries of further regional instability and are expected to be on the agenda of Cheney’s talks with Abdullah...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15887694/

As Afghanistan's narcotics trade explodes past $3 billion a year, there is concern that the Taliban is becoming another FARC, Colombia's notorious leftist insurgent group that draws much of its funding from the drug trade. The Taliban and FARC — the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia — both got their start protecting peasants from corrupt governments. There's evidence both initially fought narcotics traffic but then levied taxes on the trade for much-needed cash. Over time, the FARC began to use its soldiers to protect shipments, and took over coca factories. They forced farmers under their control to grow coca. Eventually, they became self-sufficient and set up a parallel government in their semiautonomous zone. They now earn an estimated $500 million a year from cocaine...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/21/world/main2203295.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_2203295

A criminal court case here paints a polygamist sect's leader as a controlling abuser who breaks up families and forces girls to marry men sometimes decades older.But polygamists who aren't associated with Warren Jeffs' group say the case is giving people unfair perceptions of their way of life."I think everyone that lives the lifestyle now is guilty by association," said Rachel Young, 45, a polygamist wife and mother of 12, who is a member of the Davis County Cooperative Society, a polygamist group. Polygamy is illegal under Utah and federal laws. Opponents say the practice is abusive to women and children, who often live in poverty and are unable to leave....http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15881301/